We are apparently being flown to Cairns tomorrow late afternoon. However, Contiki is such a disorganised bunch of W*****S that we would be surprised if we make it to the airport...

So, catching up on the adventure. We were up and out of Surfers Paradise and drove to Brisbane. On the way, I broke Contiki code and used the bus loo, which was an experience in itself. So, Brisbane didn't seem to have that much going on, but we had an opal demonstration which was interesting. More interesting was the most amazing yoghurt I've ever had from a little food outlet down the road. Greek style with fresh raspberries and mango syrup. Divine!

We stoped at Noosa Heads for lunch and met with Jason, Chris's old work mate, who took us to his surf club for food. We sat right out on the balcony, watching the surf. This is the last beach we could enter the sea safely st as it's stinger season further north now.

A further drive to our ferry got us over to Fraser Island, the world's largest sand island. We were in lodges and it's fair to say that thankfully the bedclothes were clean, but the rest of the room, shared bathroom and unequipped kitchen (3 bowls between 20) was rather dirty. We weren't one of the unlucky oneswho had bugs in their beds or in their clothes after putting them on the shelves. One girl even literally had ants in her pants. They forgot to give us dinner so we had free drinks as we waited. The food was good though. We went to bed 11.30ish and it seemed that everyone held the contiki oarty in our lodge that night, coming in at 1.30am. We decided to stick it out for a bit and everyone did leave at 2.30am, but the ones staying in our lodge (well, small group) decided to stay up and start playing footie in the lounge at 3am, so it was a telling off from me. No hard feelings from anyone (nor me) the next morning but I was peed off noone apologised whilst sober.

7.30am brought the Yankie law bighead talking loudly on his balcony which adjoined our room so it was sad that the 4WD tour we had booked was almost missed s I was falling asleep! It was a really good tour though (thank you to who gave us the money for it - I don't have my list on me) and we learnt a lot. We saw a Dingo and had a very close encounter with a large lace monitor lizard.

That evening we had decided to go for the hotels buffet at a special contiki price, but the hotel messed up with their 'instructions' to us, so we had the most amazing feed for a tenner - crayfish, oysters, beef, king prawns amongst salads and veggies... fantastic! Even had a good nights sleep that night.

Ferry back to the island where I bought some nice rubber shoesies that have a bit more support for my ankle. They have since become a necessity in the flood water and wet weather. We drove to a cattle farm which had unusual accommodation and a very social layout which was great, but we asked to be away from the communal area and got the nearest room to it. We managed to swap though. These people had 26,000 acres of land! They provided us a hay wagon ride and a good meal that night, with beer at $4. Sweet! There were mozzies galore and some poisonous toads outside of the rooms later that night, but all good. The frogs in the showers the next day weren't nasty and rather cute. It was nice to have company whilst washing, even though it was 5am.

We drove though Rockhampton the next day and over the Tropic of Capricorn. The weather was noticeably deteriorating and we were told after lunch that our sailing was cancelled and we would have 3 nights on Long Island rather than 2 nights on the yacht and one on the island. It was pouring and our bags were soaking when we got them. At least we had better rooms this time and private bathrooms, although we did have ants in our pillows on the second afternoon and after housekeeping changed the bedding, I got addicted to Raid. ANyway, our first day consisted of a few of us going for a walk around a track and getting soaked (even my pants were wet) and then swimming in the rain (it was raining so hard I couldn't see!). Then generally relaxing in the room, which was actually really good as we were getting a bit tired of the moving around. It also meant we were geared up for a bit of a drinking night, seeing as we had no reason to get up the next day. There are some embarrassing pics around, I say no more. But it was fun. The hotel had provided a great buffet the first night and then as there were so many of us as no-one had been sailing and the other Contiki group (travelling South) were also on the island, they said they'd do us a buffet at a special price. Unfortunately it was a pizza and pasta buffet and we were second lot in so it wasn't good at all, but I was too tipsy to care anyway and was ready for more vodka.

It was drier weather the next day so we swam in the pool and then sat on the beach for a bit (some people burnt under the cloud). As it got more showery, Chris and I did another walk just to stretch our legs as we realised that we are in danger of getting very fat. We saw some wallabies and beautiful butterflies. Later that evenning we were told that we wouldn't be driving to Cairns the following day, but would be trying to get to Townsville.

A bit more wildlife as we left the island the following morning. Cockroaches at breakfast near the juices and some catfish near the jetty. But, best of all a large orangey coloured turtle who popped his head up briefly and we waited for the ferry. We made it to Townsville and are in a Mercure hotel, but this is where our Contiki tour has turned really sour. We have been kept hanging on and hanging on by the suits in Sydney as they decide what to do with us. We have been messed around completely and have had to check out this morning, just to check back in again tonight. They couldn't confirm flights etc and it's been a mess and we've been having to 'meet' with the tour rep every few hours for updates so we haven't been able to get out of Weirdsville for a while. WHich is why I'm mega-blogging instead of going to see Magnetic Island. It's got to the point where I was upset earlier and we're hoping to God that we are getting out of here tomorrow as we have just been told (peed off that we could have booked a flight out of here this morning had we known it would be late tomorrow). Also, there isanother cyclone forming just north of Cairns so we're wondering if we'll get in or even get out of Cairns to join our Uluru trip. I'm sad that we've missed the sailing and the great barrier reef due to the weather, but if we miss Uluru I'll be GUTTED. We looked at flights to ALice SPrings but Chris does not want to be in that place any longer than possible. However, it may be one Strageville to another if Contiki mess us about anymore. :(

Keep everything crossed for us please!